Finding My Foundation Through the Foundations

I wanted to pause and reflect on the amazing experience I had through the Nutritional Therapy Association.

As a disclaimer, this is not a rah-rah-NTA post, nobody is paying me to say this, and this post is 100% my opinion and experience personally -- while I did 100% enjoy, love, and appreciate the NTP program and all the material we covered, and would rah-rah them anyway, I connected with so much more than just ancestral health. I found myself. I found a close-knit tribe. I found purpose.

I haven’t acquired many experiences in my life that made me feel this connected to something bigger than myself. Quite frankly, I haven’t acquired many experiences in my life that made me feel like myself, either. I’m not even sure I knew who “I” was prior to these last nine months. It’s been a profound transformation, but I’m not trying to be intentionally profound here, so let me elaborate:

I’m typically able to adapt to my surroundings and make whatever I happen to be doing or focusing on my “thing” for that period of time. It allows me to give my current life projects my all, even if they’re not how I’d ideally like to be spending my time. Because of that, I’ve probably allowed too many of my own dreams to passively fall by the wayside, which is why when I take a big-picture look at my previous life experiences, they all seemed to just “be occurring” as I went along for the ride, happening at me instead of to me, hoping one of them became my long-term future. As I now know, none of those experiences were really congruent enough with who I think I am to make me feel like a “whole” person.

Don’t get me wrong -- I appreciate the privilege I was born with and the innate drive for progress that got me to where I am today.

I appreciate my undergraduate education, that mostly showed me the harsh reality of choosing your company wisely and the immaturity of most twenty-somethings. But it also pushed me to my many breaking points and was by far the most difficult goal I’ve ever accomplished (the University of Michigan is no joke, friends).

My Master’s program allowed me to meet some of the most compassionate, intelligent thinkers in the Metro-Detroit area, and humbled me to my very core. I learned about the despair of those who suffer and how we can empower them toward better health without martyrdom. I sharpened my writing, critical thinking, and communication skills, and felt confident in my abilities for arguably the first time in my academic and professional lives.

Even all of the hourly jobs I had over the years have taught me lessons about life that my arrogant ass needed to learn -- how to save face when needed, when to try harder and when to back down, how to put my own problems aside for the immediate needs of others…

I really did and do care about all of those experiences; they shaped me to be ready for my true purpose, so had it not been for this culmination of experience, I may not have been able to receive it. Unlike any other idea, experience, or education, however, the premise of nutritional therapy brought me to my knees, wrenching my gut in all the ways, making my heart race when I thought about it. I had never felt a fire like this before. Once I knew I could turn my passion into a fulfilling, lifelong career, I knew I had found where I was meant to be.

The material we covered was, I’d say, roughly 80% familiar to me. My Bachelor’s degree in biology really primed me well to cover digestion, anatomy and physiology, and how to tie physiological mechanisms together with food intake. The extensive leaps that my writing ability took during my Master’s program in public health really supported me for the dozens of essays I wrote for the FNTP program as well. There were some surprises thrown in that challenged me academically, of course, but the biggest hurdle for me was time management. The course was reading-intensive, and I work full time with a family and obligations and a stressful commute. I struggled with making sure I still found time to prioritize myself and my family while keeping up with the coursework benchmarks. Especially as someone who historically suffers from insomnia and anxiety, there were quite-the-many-nights that reminded me I’m only human.

I put in the work, though. I spent my entire spring and summer studying and did what I had to do. I learned how to set boundaries both with myself and with others. I learned how to transform the piles of nutritional information in my brain into words and sentences and ideas that made sense to others. I learned how to communicate effectively with many kinds of people and how to show grace for the various ways we all differ. I was reminded to remain humble and to continually seek out knowledge because no matter what, it’s impossible to know everything… even when I blindly think I do.

As an Enneagram Six, I’m cautious, worried, and reserved by nature. In the past I’ve tended to lack confidence in life’s biggest moments, and I’ve always looked externally for security and assurance. My fellow FNTP students -- now colleagues -- challenged that aspect of my personality. It was time to show up or back out. To not be afraid. To dive right in alongside equally scared humans, with human strengths and weaknesses, to encourage the notion of failure in order to learn from it. I had never cared so much about anything I’ve been “doing” at any point in my life quite like this -- and this program didn’t require any prerequisites! I didn’t need any formal education or work experience to join. I just needed to show up and give a shit. To live my passion through living my truth. To remove expectations on myself and others and collaboratively work to move forward.

We walked into this course as strangers and left as family. Learning how to show individuals the connection between what they eat and do with how they experience life and health really started our fires. I feel like I’ve known these people my entire life… and on a certain level I think I have. Why? Because we have the same purpose and want to help others in the same ways. I always knew these people existed somewhere in the world, and thankfully the NTA brought us together. Even though we’re all from different geographic regions and walks of life, our souls speak the same language. What gets each of us up in the morning is the same. There’s an energy we share that can’t be explained. I feel innately connected to a true tribe and that visceral feeling reminds me that this work is important, needed, and can change the world.

I can finally feel the unwavering earth beneath my feet. Whether I have a full-time, thriving solo practice or just do this on the side, I can affect change in this world, big or small. Every step counts. Everything I do to try and make this world a healthier place for current and future generations is worth it because all we have are these bodies -- that are capable of so much, if we give it the right foundations upon which to stand: proper digestion of nutrient dense foods, blood sugar regulation, hydration, mineral and fatty acid balance, and -- if I may add my own -- community.

Interested to learn more about nutritional therapy? Comment, message me on social media, or send me an email -- I'd love to go into depth. And who knows... maybe there will be a series about this in the future!

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